Euphonics

20 21 Q uick, Jack Wake up and act Pick up your walkingstick Look, were attacked Good luck and be plucky Theyre wicked and slick, But poking and tickling them may do the trick. Alick, you brick, you take the stick, Unbuckle your flickknife and cut them off quick But hark theres no tinkling of muskets or tanks. Despicable trickster Its one of your pranks. 21 The K sound is a clarion call, like a startled blackbirds kekekekeke, commanding attention in quick awake hark look prick your ears, and perk up The words quick and click, which sound K at both ends, epitomize its function in denoting movements and noises which are brusque, brisk and ephemeral. Its staccato crack is heard after the swishing sound in whisking skirts, and gives a feeling of sparkling spirits in words as lark, prank, caper, high jinks, jokey, skipping, skimming, skating, skittish, frisky, kittenish, scamper, scattercash, jocular, lucky, cocky, chic, spic and span, cocktailshaker. The trivialising effect of K is apparent in knickknacks, kickshaws, bric abrac, trinkets, keepsakes, crackpots, fickle chicks and gimcrack sparklers, tinkling, twinkling and flickering. Names of small sharp or stinging things tend to be built on the K sound, hence pick, pike, prickle, spike, beak, stick, crop, cane, icicle and flickknife. Other cutting instruments are listed under C. With these are administered short, sharp chastisements, generally minor spank, shake, smack, crack, whack, hack, yank, attack, tweak, jerk, peck, wreck, break, kick, nick, flick, prick, lick, tickoff, tickle, poke, sock, rock, knock. K a quick flick of the whisk A false alarm